Sunday, 22 January 2012

Stumbled accross this on the internet, I'm sure you all remember Patrick's story from early last year. This happened in America where Pitbulls aren't a banned breed, and shows that despite a breed's reputation nothing can compare to the cruelty the human race is capable of. Pleased your doing well big guy. He's a reminder of what he went through:

"Kisha Curtis, the alleged abuser of a beautiful Newark pit-bull puppy named Patrick, was finally handed down an indictment of Fourth Degree Animal Cruelty for abandoning and starving the 1-year-old pit bull in March, by the New Jersey’s Grand Jury. Her sentence, if found guilty, can carry up t0 18 months in jail.

Patrick was found stuffed in a plastic bag in the garbage shoot of a 22-floor apartment building. Ms. Curtis, who lived on the 19th floor, denies having stuffed the emaciated puppy in the garbage bag and having thrown him in to the garbage shoot. Patrick weighed 19 lbs. and was 1–2 hours away from death when the building maintenance man found him. Patrick was sent to Garden State Veterinary Specialist, in Tinton Falls, to recuperate. He is currently weighing 51 lbs and is in a loving foster home."

Here is our very own Otto 2 beating the world doggy keepy up record. I've been trying to capture this for months. He does this every single day. We have a deal that if he gets the ball back to his kennel without it touching the ground he can keep it.

We had a blossoming new romance at The Rescue Place this week, as after a great deal of socialising, Duke met a lady off lead for the first time. Gema is a great playmate, and she is always fun around the boys. I think you can see from these pictures that it was a good match, and for anyone who remembers the abused and naive dog that Duke was when he arrived, these pictures may seem amazing. Duke didn't even know how to play with a toy never mind another dog. So proud of you big Brindle, and thank you so much Gema.

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Saturday, 7 January 2012

I enjoyed a walk on the beach yesterday with my Double D's Dusty and Dudley. Both of these dogs were left abandoned and with serious illness's. Yet they are two of the most loving and biddable dogs you could ever meet. I'm lucky to foster them both on behalf of SHAK, and the reaction and admiration that they both get from people on meeting them and hearing their stories is testament to what these dogs represent. Thanks to the stranger who kindly took these photos of me and my boys after getting cuddles off the pair of them.

A quick update on Suki the Saluki who we took in just before Christmas in desperate need of a cruciate ligament operation. As you can see she is relaxing into her new foster life and is recovering well. Her new Dad tells me that she saw in the New Year by watching the swimmers taking their new year dip in the north sea, before a trip to Monkseaton to watch the morris dancers. In the short time she was with us she won everyones hearts. We're all just so pleased that she has found the life she should of had in the first place.

Tuesday, 3 January 2012

A sad day today as a great family lost their pride and joy, and SHAK lost the best ambassador we could of ever wished for. After being unwell for a while, including having part of his bottom jaw removed with a tumour, Jake left us all for Rainbow Bridge. An MRI scan revealed a further 3 tumours, 2 being on his spine on the other being in his spleen. Despite being so brave and strong, Jake couldn't go on.

Jake's story is one I will never forget. He was without doubt the smelliest and most matted dog I have ever seen. After being dropped by his transporter at a vets, I walked in to collect him and was met by such a stench. "Whats that? I enquired thinking there was problems with the drains. "Your dog" came the reply as I was handed a lead and shown the door.

The big guy scrubbed up well though, and when the Nichol family came to me on the look out for their first family dog, I knew exactly who they needed. The rest is history, as Jake became a permanent fixture at nearly every SHAK fundraising event. The support that dog gained for us simply by his Dad showing the pictures of how he used to be, was truly amazing.

Above is a picture of him the day he arrived, and also a picture of perhaps his proudest hour, winning Rescue Dog Of The Year 2011 at the Hillheads Dog Club Show.

There is nothing I can say that will make any of this any easier John and his family, but I will say this. You can always be proud of yourselves and him for turning the smelliest and most matted dog ever, into the finest example of what we do, that any charity could ask for.

Jake was perfect, and you were all perfect for him, if ever a dog and a family were meant to be it was you and Jake. My thoughts are with you all.

IMPORTANT STATEMENT APRIL 2018

A Statement From SHAK.....

One of the drawbacks of gaining followers through Facebook, the press and other forms of media is the demand for our expertise is growing beyond a level that is manageable or even acceptable. We are a victim of our own success and with constantly running with around 70 dogs in our care, being such a small charity we are always stretched beyond our limit.

Therefore I think it is important for me to explain exactly where we get our dogs from and who we will deal with. For the past 12 years we have dealt very closely with vets taking destruction cases, local councils taking strays and a few recognised partnered charities that we have built up strong relationships with. Today this is still the case.

As I mentioned space and resources are very short resulting us being unable to take dogs from members of the public and due to time we are ubable to deal with the publuc in any way. Likewise we are not looking to extend our pool of partnered charities or organisations, so can not take dogs from groups we have never worked with before.

It is not out of ignorance, but due to concentrating our time on our own dogs that no unsolicited emails, phonecalls or Facebook messages will be returned.

Thank you for understanding and for all of your support.

Who We Are.....

Stephen Wylie and one of the SHAK dogs Donnie.

And What We Do.....

Celebrating its 10th anniversary on June 19th 2016, SHAK has come a long way since its founder Stephen Wylie uttered those fateful words ‘never again...’ after the shock death of his dog and best friend Shak.

The hundreds of dogs whose lives have been changed because of that loss is testament to a dog that had a lasting imprint on everyone he met.....

Today the registered charity has approximately 70 dogs inits care, offering sanctuary to the ones that really need it or a place to simply become a dog again for others.

Working only with destruction cases from vets, strays anddogs from our trusted charity partners, SHAK does not take in dogs from members of the public. Likewise we are not a rehoming centre, although we do offer the opportunity for people to apply for our Forever Foster project.

We concentrate all of our time, energy and resources directly into the well being of our dogs, enriching lives that others had written off.....

Keep Calm

Ways You Can Donate.....

We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Vodafone, and provide a simple and effective way of you to help us "Save Even More Dogs On Death Row."

Simply text SHAK01 £10 to 70070 to donate to Shak (Safe Homes And Kindness) and make a difference today. You can donate any amount upto £10 by simply changing the amount in the text, and the best thing is we get EVERY penny.

Thanks in advance for your support.

"It's A Dogs Life....."

A Blog page to show all the work that goes on behind the scenes at SHAK.

A brief insight into how our dogs get here, and what they do when they get here…..

(Please note, all opinions and views on here are exactly that, OUR opinions and views ony.)